Sunnyside City Council approves drilling new well

With perhaps the most severe drought to ever hit the state of Washington on the horizon, the Sunnyside City Council Monday night approved moving forward with the drilling of a new well in Sunnyside.

Prior to the discussion on the new well that will be drilled, which city leaders say has nothing to do with the coming drought but rather with the city taking steps to meet its future water needs, Sunnyside City Manager Bob Stockwell offered some words of caution to local residents.

Stockwell said even though a drought is on the horizon and the city isn't worried about its water supply, that doesn't mean residents should be running their sprinklers 24 hours a day. Stockwell said the city has adequate access to meet water demands, but encouraged residents to still use the city's water supply responsibly.

"It is very important for all of us to conserve water," said Stockwell.

Sunnyside Public Works Director Jim Bridges then provided Council with some background that led to the drilling of a new well. Well #11, the city's new well, will be located at Seventh Street and Custer Avenue. Well #11 is at the site of the former well 4A. Bridges said the well will go about 430 feet deep and is expected to be online by September.

Once well #11 is online it will be the fifth well the city has in operation.

The drilling of well #11 is part of the city's plan to meet future water needs that were identified in the recently approved water system plan of the city. The plan identified the city's need to construct three additional water wells to meet the forecasted demands for the next 20 years.

The city received two bids for drilling well #11. One of the bids was from Tacoma Pump & Drill for $188,943. The other bid was from Geo-Tech Explorations for $210,410. Council approved going with the bid from Tacoma Pump & Drill.

Bridges pointed out the bid by Tacoma Pump & Drill is well under the $250,000 estimate the city received for the cost of the well.